Special education teachers working in intermediate grades and in middle school grades face many challenges as they teach both developmental reading skills and subject matter material. Not only must they deal with the increased vocabulary and domain demands of teaching informational text, they must also handle the needs of students who have not yet…

Using structural equation modeling the authors evaluated the contribution of morphological awareness, phonological memory, and phonological decoding to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, spelling, and accuracy and rate of decoding morphologically complex words for 182 4th- and 5th-grade students, 218 6th- and 7th-grade students, and 207…

The whole middle school movement is based on the knowledge that children between the ages of 10 and 14 have special developmental needs. Summarizes recent research findings. A sidebar lists eight recommendations for middle school executives adapted from the Carnegie Corporation document "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st…

Examined relationship between relative age and achievement in middle school by investigating standardized mathematics and reading scores for 933 students. Found significant differences among relative age groups in only one area, sixth-grade reading. Found no main effect for gender and no interaction between age and gender in sixth, seventh, or…

This study investigated current classroom assessment practices by surveying teachers in New Zealand at years 5, 7, and 9 on the assessments they use in the areas of English and mathematics, the purposes of the assessment, and the assessments that provide the most useful information. A total of 676 questionnaires were returned from 311 full…

Offers a brief look at a graduate student's on-line correspondence with three sixth-grade pen pals. Offers advice about adult-student pen pal relationships. (SR)

In recent years, science educators have struggled with the dual challenge of equity and excellence, of providing all students access to a quality science education, and ensuring each student achieves an understanding of scientific concepts and processes. The Program for Complex Instruction, a model of group work, addresses this dual challenge by…

A study investigated the correlation between students' learning styles and their academic achievement on report cards and standardized tests. Subjects were 58 fifth-grade students in a suburban middle school. The "Learning Style Inventory" by Brown and Cooper was administered to this population, and students' academic averages and…

This monograph provides rationale, examples, and specific guidelines for initiating advisor-advisee programs in the middle school. Part 1 discusses why affective education is needed in the middle school, and promotes the need for qualitative properties of education to exist along side the quantitative. Part 2 describes six on-going programs of…

This paper describes the organizing and purpose of a conference on curriculum, instruction, and assessment in the middle grades that focused on higher achievement for all adolescents, especially those who are poor. The paper also contains a synthesis of the conference presentations and recommendations for policy and practice. Approximately 200…

Investigates the working knowledge of intermediate and middle school students about potential strategies for alleviating bullying. Students discussed the prevalence of bullying in their school, methods for dealing with bullying and future coping strategies. While respondents struggled to articulate strategies for coping with bullying, most…

A study investigated whether middle-school students who identify recreational reading as a hobby obtain significantly higher reading achievement scores than those middle-school students who have not identified recreational reading as a hobby. Subjects, 55 students in grades 4, 5, and 6 at the Earle Elementary Public School located in a…

This article describes the implementation of the Kids to Kids International (KTKI) program, a student-created picture book program that gives children an opportunity to learn about and understand each other. At the Rochambeau Middle School in Connecticut, KTKI has become part of the integrated language arts program, a Writers Club, an enrichment…

Describes eight creative inquiry projects for middle-school students, complete with description, time investment, level of difficulty, and student rating. (SR)

Finds that academic preferences of students in grades five, six, and eight for mathematics were near the midpoint of Mathematics Preference Index, whereas those for seventh graders were substantially below it. Shows a preference for mathematics to be negatively correlated with measures of academic achievement. (SR)